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X Demographics
Mendeley readers
| Title |
A Drosophila female pheromone elicits species-specific long-range attraction via an olfactory channel with dual specificity for sex and food
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|---|---|
| Published in |
BMC Biology, September 2017
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| DOI | 10.1186/s12915-017-0427-x |
| Pubmed ID | |
| Authors |
Sebastien Lebreton, Felipe Borrero-Echeverry, Francisco Gonzalez, Marit Solum, Erika A. Wallin, Erik Hedenström, Bill S. Hansson, Anna-Lena Gustavsson, Marie Bengtsson, Göran Birgersson, William B. Walker, Hany K. M. Dweck, Paul G. Becher, Peter Witzgall |
| Abstract |
Mate finding and recognition in animals evolves during niche adaptation and involves social signals and habitat cues. Drosophila melanogaster and related species are known to be attracted to fermenting fruit for feeding and egg-laying, which poses the question of whether species-specific fly odours contribute to long-range premating communication. We have discovered an olfactory channel in D. melanogaster with a dual affinity to sex and food odorants. Female flies release a pheromone, (Z)-4-undecenal (Z4-11Al), that elicits flight attraction in both sexes. Its biosynthetic precursor is the cuticular hydrocarbon (Z,Z)-7,11-heptacosadiene (7,11-HD), which is known to afford reproductive isolation between the sibling species D. melanogaster and D. simulans during courtship. Twin olfactory receptors, Or69aB and Or69aA, are tuned to Z4-11Al and food odorants, respectively. They are co-expressed in the same olfactory sensory neurons, and feed into a neural circuit mediating species-specific, long-range communication; however, the close relative D. simulans, which shares food resources with D. melanogaster, does not respond to Z4-11Al. The Or69aA and Or69aB isoforms have adopted dual olfactory traits. The underlying gene yields a collaboration between natural and sexual selection, which has the potential to drive speciation. |
X Demographics
The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 27 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| United States | 6 | 22% |
| United Kingdom | 2 | 7% |
| France | 1 | 4% |
| Lebanon | 1 | 4% |
| Argentina | 1 | 4% |
| Colombia | 1 | 4% |
| Sweden | 1 | 4% |
| Spain | 1 | 4% |
| Unknown | 13 | 48% |
Demographic breakdown
| Type | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Members of the public | 13 | 48% |
| Scientists | 10 | 37% |
| Science communicators (journalists, bloggers, editors) | 3 | 11% |
| Practitioners (doctors, other healthcare professionals) | 1 | 4% |
Mendeley readers
The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 117 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Unknown | 117 | 100% |
Demographic breakdown
| Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Student > Ph. D. Student | 28 | 24% |
| Researcher | 22 | 19% |
| Student > Master | 15 | 13% |
| Student > Bachelor | 10 | 9% |
| Student > Doctoral Student | 4 | 3% |
| Other | 10 | 9% |
| Unknown | 28 | 24% |
| Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Agricultural and Biological Sciences | 49 | 42% |
| Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology | 14 | 12% |
| Neuroscience | 14 | 12% |
| Computer Science | 2 | 2% |
| Environmental Science | 2 | 2% |
| Other | 6 | 5% |
| Unknown | 30 | 26% |